Rules and agencies

Who Regulates Your Water Well in Parker County? A Who-to-Call Guide

Six different offices touch a private well in Parker County, and none of them tests your water for you. Here is what each one does and when to call it.

Photo by Ronin / Unsplash

No single agency is in charge of a private well in Parker County. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses the people who drill and service it. The Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District registers it. State agencies keep its records, Parker County permits the septic system next to it, and the Railroad Commission looks into oil and gas problems. Keeping the water safe is up to you.

That last point surprises many new well owners. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it plainly: "The quality and safety of drinking water from private domestic wells are not regulated by the Federal Government under the Safe Drinking Water Act nor by most state governments and laws."

Quick reference: who to call

If you need to…	Contact	What they do
Register a new well before drilling, transfer a well after you buy, or ask about spacing rules	Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, Springtown, 817-523-5200	Registers and regulates water wells in Parker, Hood, Wise and Montague counties
Check a driller's or pump installer's license, or complain about their work	Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), 800-803-9202	Licenses water well drillers and pump installers and enforces construction standards
Find your well's State Well Report	Texas Water Development Board (wells from 2003 on) or TCEQ's Water Well Report Viewer (older wells)	Keep the state's searchable well records
Get a septic permit outside city limits	Parker County Permitting Department, 1114 Santa Fe Drive, Weatherford, 817-598-6175	Permits on-site sewage facilities in unincorporated Parker County
Report suspected contamination from oil or gas activity	Railroad Commission of Texas, district office for your county	Investigates water well complaints tied to oil and gas operations
Find a lab to test your water	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), accredited lab list	Accredits environmental laboratories

Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District

Texas law calls groundwater conservation districts "the state's preferred method of groundwater management" (Texas Water Code §36.0015). In Parker County, that's the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. It also covers Hood, Wise and Montague counties and has its office at 1859 West Highway 199 in Springtown.

For a household well owner, the district handles three things:

Registration before drilling. New wells are registered with the district before the rig arrives, and the driller usually files the paperwork. The district also sets minimum tract sizes and how far a well must sit from property lines and other wells, and those rules change on January 1, 2027. For the details, read this step-by-step guide to registering a new well in Parker County.
Transfers. When a property with a registered well changes hands, the new owner files the district's transfer of ownership form.
Records and questions. The district can tell you whether your well is registered and what it has on file.

If you're on the Tarrant County side of the line near Azle, your well answers to a different district, the Northern Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR)

TDLR licenses water well drillers (Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 1901) and pump installers (Chapter 1902). Its rules set how wells are built. For example, a new well must sit at least 50 feet from a septic tank and 100 feet from a septic absorption field, and its annular seal must run at least 10 feet down from the surface (16 TAC §76.100).

Call TDLR when you want to:

Check a license before you hire someone. TDLR has an online license search.
File a complaint about a driller's or pump installer's work.
Ask about an abandoned well. Texas law gives a landowner 180 days to plug an abandoned or deteriorated well, or bring it back into compliance, after learning about it (Texas Occupations Code §1901.255).

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

TCEQ receives a copy of every well report a driller files (Texas Occupations Code §1901.251). For a private well owner, it matters in three ways:

Old well records. TCEQ's Water Well Report Viewer holds scanned reports going back to 1960. We walk through it in how to find and read your State Well Report.
Accredited labs. TCEQ accredits environmental laboratories. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension points well owners to TCEQ's list when choosing a lab for a drinking water test.
Septic rules. TCEQ writes the statewide rules for on-site sewage facilities. In unincorporated Parker County, the county's Permitting Department issues the permits.

Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)

The TWDB doesn't regulate your well. It keeps the data. Its Submitted Drillers Reports database holds well reports filed since 2003, searchable by map, owner name, address or driller. The TWDB also studies the aquifers under the county, including the Trinity Aquifer.

Railroad Commission of Texas

The Railroad Commission regulates oil and gas, not water wells. It does step in when a water well problem may come from oil or gas activity. According to the Commission, when a complaint involves a domestic water well, "a Commission inspector will meet the water well owner to inspect the water well and any nearby oil and gas operations," and water samples are typically collected. To file a complaint, contact the Railroad Commission district office that covers your county. The Commission lists them on its website.

Parker County Permitting Department

Outside city limits, Parker County's Permitting Department permits on-site sewage facilities (septic systems). It also manages building in flood hazard areas. Because a septic system and a well usually share the same acreage, plan them together: the setback distances in state rules apply to both. Inside a city's limits, ask that city.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

AgriLife Extension runs the Texas Well Owner Network, a training program for private well owners. It also publishes plain-language guides on topics like disinfecting a well. Your county Extension office can tell you about upcoming well owner programs.

What no agency does for you

No agency tests a private well's water on a schedule, inspects your pump or reminds you about maintenance. The EPA says "private well owners are responsible for delivering safe drinking water to their households," and it recommends testing every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH.

A simple routine covers most of it:

Test once a year, and again after flooding or any repair that opens the well. Our post on what to do with a well after a flood walks through those steps.
Keep your State Well Report, registration and test results together.
Hire licensed people, and check the license first.

Quick answers

Do I need a permit to drill a water well in Parker County? Yes. New wells must be registered with the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District before drilling, and the well has to meet the district's spacing rules and the state's setback distances.

Who do I complain to about a water well driller in Texas? The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which licenses water well drillers and pump installers. You can check a license on its website before you hire.

Does Parker County test private well water? No. Neither the county nor the state tests private wells on a schedule. The EPA recommends that owners test once a year for bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH, using an accredited lab.